Spain has imposed draconian rules on its saving banks and is preparing for part-nationalisation of the industry to restore confidence and boost the country’s defences against contagion from the debt crisis in Portugal.

The head of the International Monetary Fund called on key global economic players Thursday to accept an increased role for an alternative reserve currency as a way to curb trade imbalances that are at risk of widening further.

The alternative in mind is the IMF’s special drawing rights, or SDRs. And Dominique Strauss-Kahn, in prepared remarks delivered in Washington, said the IMF is open to changing the basket of currencies that determine the SDR’s value by giving more weight to emerging market currencies – including the yuan.

Energy

ONE might not have too much sympathy for fossil fuel companies, currently enjoying all the benefits of high coal and oil prices. But they are crying foul in their competition with an (admittedly undersized) non-hydrocarbon fuel—uranium. According to America’s mining act of 1872, framed at a time when spurring development of the wide-open West was all the rage, no government agency can refuse a mining permit on federal land, or charge a royalty. And uranium is treated just like other hardrock minerals such as gold and copper. Oil, gas, coal and timber companies, by contrast, all have to pay substantial royalties, of up to 12.5% of gross income, when they extract from federal lands.

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Oil engineers are applying what critics say is an environmentally questionable method developed in recent years to tap natural gas trapped in underground shale. They drill down and horizontally into the rock, then pump water, sand and chemicals into the hole to crack the shale and allow gas to flow up.

Environment

But there is evidence that the current rise -- driven in part by bizarre and destructive weather in important food-exporting countries including Australia, Argentina and Russia -- will be more sustained than the 2008 event.

Credit Suisse researchers led by Edward Morse note that while "the predominant short-term cause for most food price spikes in recent years has been supply disruption, it is possible that over time, increased demand from emerging markets could slow or even halt the long-term downward trend in food prices evident for at least the past 100 years.

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"NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The International Monetary Fund issued a report Thursday on a possible replacement for the dollar as the world's reserve currency.

The IMF said Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, could help stabilize the global financial system.

SDRs represent potential claims on the currencies of IMF members. They were created by the IMF in 1969 and can be converted into whatever currency a borrower requires at exchange rates based on a weighted basket of international currencies."

"California's Employment Development Department spent $22.9 billion on unemployment benefits in 2010, a record amount, the EDD said Thursday. The benefits, paid to 1.7 million Californians, average out to about $90 million each business day.

"The numbers are staggering and the need undeniable," said Pam Harris, chief deputy director of the EDD.

The state paid out $20.2 billion in unemployment benefits in 2009. That topped the previous record of $8 billion that the state paid out in 2008. "

"SAGINAW COUNTY -- Web-based college financial aid source FinAid clocks the nation’s student loan debt level at more than $888 billion dollars as of this month. It’s that sky high figure that has many financial experts and analysts calling it the country’s next major financial crisis.

More and more recent college graduates are finding themselves tens of thousands of dollars in debt and unable to find jobs in their field to make those debt payments, let alone meet other costs of livings.

MSN financial writer Liz Pulliam Weston wrote an article documenting e-mails she receives from graduates in $30,000-$40,000 if not more in debt from student loans and are unable to find work.

Some students resort to credit cards to pay what they can, while others take on two or more jobs to pay the bills, but still find themselves coming up short."

It appears the FDIC is closing about 4 banks a week. If they keep up this pace, another 200, or so, will bite the dust this year. Isn't there a line from a song that describes their work: "Nothing from nothing leaves nothing..."?